Over a dozen dogs were abandoned at a boarding facility in Gilpin County, Colorado. According to 9NEWS, deputies from Gilpin and Jefferson counties discovered the 13 pups at the Just Like Home Dog Boarding facility on Sunday morning.
Abandoned dogs discovered at boarding facility
When the authorities arrived at the property, there were six dogs outside and seven dogs inside. They were all kenneled, but none had access to water or food, according to Cherokee Blake at the sheriff’s office.
The deputies had to do some digging to find who the dogs belonged to. Then, they worked on reuniting the pups with their parents.
Jefferson County sent several trucks to transport the dogs to Foothills Animal Shelter.
“Our deputies were able to contact several owners and reunite the puppies with their owners right there on scene,” Blake said.
Dog parents speak out
Bre and Corey Tonjes were two of the dog parents alerted about the situation that day. They have a 120-pound Alaskan Malamute named Odin and a Corgi named Pixie.
“The deputy just said are you the owner of Odin and I’m like, ‘Yes, what’s going on?'” Bre recalled.
The deputy told Bre that she could retrieve her dogs at Foothills Animal Shelter in Golden. Unfortunately, during transport, the dogs were crammed together in a plastic crate.
“It was small enough that Odin couldn’t turn around and that Pixie was shoved in behind him,” Bre said.
Bre and Corey picked up the dogs quickly but didn’t appreciate the treatment of the dogs.
“They’re like our kids, we’ve had them for a long time. I would never have my children treated like that and I definitely would not want that for my animals,” Corey told 9NEWS. “It was aggravating,”
“Yeah, it was pretty upsetting,” Bre agreed.
This was the first time Bre and Corey used a boarding facility. Normally, family members watch the dogs for them. But after a relative canceled, they realized they would have to find a kennel for Pixie and Odin.
“I decided to go online on one of my breaks at my job and found the place on Craigslist. Normally, I wouldn’t do anything from Craigslist but we saw he had a website, there’s really good reviews on the website. I text [sic] him right away and he said he could help us out,” Corey said. “We dropped them off on Thursday and we got called on Sunday. So they were there for a good three days.”
Boarding facility owner under investigation
Brady Rose is the owner of Just Like Home Boarding. He did not respond to 9NEWS’ request for comment. However, he apparently explained to the Tonjes and another dog parent on why he left the dogs alone.
Gilpin County is investigating the matter.
“There are pending charges based on what we uncover,” Blake said.
The boarding facility does not have a license. The facility was also a safety hazard.
“There was some things that was a safety concern for the puppies you know, nails laying in the yard, sharp objects that could have potentially hurt the puppies,” Blake said.
There are still two unclaimed dogs at the Foothills Animal Shelter. Staff are “hopeful” that they will return home soon.
“You don’t want that to happen to any animal, it’s just cruel,” Bre said.
